The Consequences of Our Decisions
by WriterKRenee
Summary: Hermione and Ron make a decision during the Battle of Hogwarts that will change their lives forever. How will they deal with the Consequences?


**Author's Note: This story does not following the events of the books exactly. Please keep in mind that this is my work of fiction based on another work of fiction, and as such I am allowed to manipulate the fiction to suit my story.**

**For a few of you, this story may seem familiar. I originally posted a different version of this story 2 1/2 ish years ago, but I never finished it. Then I lost access to that account, and also during this time my hard drive crashed, so I lost the unpublished versions of this story. Therefore, I am editing as I go ('cause it definitely needed it) and hopefully taking this story in a new, better direction. Hope you all enjoy!  
**

* * *

Living at the Burrow at age eighteen wasn't the way I had pictured my life. After I discovered I was a witch at age eleven, my whole perspective changed. At first, I imagined myself creating new spells or potions, but then I stepped into Hogwarts and became overwhelmed by the unlimited possibilities. Over the six years of my Hogwarts experience, I'd learned more about myself than I thought I could. I started imagining myself as an Auror, a Healer, or even a professor—perhaps Muggle Studies.

The years weren't always happy times, just sitting around and picturing my future.

Last year, what should have been my seventh and final year of Hogwarts, is something I will not be able to ever forget.

Instead of going back to Hogwarts, I set out with my two best friends to destroy the Darkest wizard of all time. My best friend, Harry Potter, was the Chosen One to accomplish this task. Along with our other best friend, Ron Weasley, Harry, and I discovered all the Horcruxes—artifacts containing a portion of Lord Voldemort's soul—and Harry ultimately defeated Voldemort.

A lot of great witches and wizards were lost in that final battle.

A month has passed since then. The emotional wounds that had been left behind from losing our loved ones were still fresh. Remus, Tonks…but mostly Fred Weasley, Ron's brother. Fred and I always disagreed; after all, he was the perfect trouble-maker and I was the perfect teacher's pet. But Fred was like an older brother to me. The pain from losing Fred was almost unbearable. Worse than the pain of losing Fred was the pain of losing George as well.. The entire livelihood George had was gone. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes closed. I didn't think it'd open again anytime soon. I understood, though. I've never had siblings, but to lose the closest person to you had to be beyond unbearable.

But, here I was, living at the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley insisted I stay here after she heard my parents decided to continue living in Australia. I didn't want to live in Australia. I needed to stay here with the people who really needed me right now.

Ginny especially needed me, a sisterly best friend to come to for advice, so I decided to stay in her room rather than another room in the house. Percy didn't want his room disturbed, and I couldn't stay in Fred and George's room…it was too sad. Not to mention the last time I was in there a telescope punched me in the eye.

The only negative thing about staying at the Burrow was being around Ron. The chemistry between Ron and I was obvious to everyone. Now, it was even obvious to us. But we took it too far. Something happened and the consequences are still too much for us to handle.

_I had a growing fear in the pit of my stomach. I should have felt relief at just finishing off another Horcrux, but all I felt was fear. Running through the corridors of Hogwarts with Ron, I could hardly focus on anything else._

"_Hang on, we're forgetting something!" Ron said, stopping abruptly._

"_What is it?" I asked, turning to look at him, panting slightly from the run._

"_The house elves! They'll be down in the kitchens, won't they?" he asked, an unreadable expression on his face._

"_You mean we should get them fighting?" I asked warily. Ron knew my feelings on house elves being free—asking them to fight is something he would know I'd be very, very against._

"_No, I mean we should tell them to get out! We can't ask them to die for us."_

_I don't know what came over me in that moment. One minute I was standing there, listening to Ron talk, and the next moment I was crashing into Ron's body, my lips coming down onto his hungrily and passionately._

_Ron responded with a passion equal to mine and we fell back against a wall. My arms reached around him, pulling his body as close to mine as I could get it._

_War temporarily forgotten, Ron pulled me into an abandoned classroom and kissed me harder. Kissing Ron felt amazing, better than I ever imagined. I felt his tongue trace my lower lip lightly and I opened my mouth, allowing his tongue to explore it._

_After what seemed like decades, but at the same time just a few seconds—not nearly enough time after we'd waited so long—we pulled apart. I looked into Ron's eyes and saw a passion and desire so strong I thought I must be imagining it. I knew my expression matched his exactly, and I knew what I wanted more than anything right now. This war was the most danger we'd experience in our lives. I wasn't sure our chance of survival, but I knew the chance of both of us surviving was probably not great._

_I was not going to die without knowing what it felt like to make love to Ronald Weasley._

_Ron must've been thinking the same way I had. "We don't have much time," he whispered, his blue eyes boring into my brown ones. _

_I couldn't help but pick up the double meaning of his words. Whether he meant for this or in life, I didn't know. The only thing I could comprehend was what I'd wanted for so long was finally here and I was not going to let it slip by._

_His mouth came back down on mine and I got lost in Ron._

After the war ended, Ron and I talked about that night. We realized we made a mistake. We took things too far too fast, and now we didn't know how to handle it.

I really did acknowledge the fact that it was a mistake. It was too much in-the-moment and we weren't prepared for that.

Losing my virginity that night, in that way, affected me emotionally. I started becoming unstable, though I think part of that had to do with all the other events that night.

I knew the decision we made affected Ron. It was his first time as well, and I'm sure it was far from the way he'd imagined it.

The truth is, Ron and I had been dancing circles around each other for a long time. But our first kiss should not have escalated so quickly into the first time we made love. Because of how close we were, Ron and I needed to experience life as a couple with chemistry and compatibility before making such a drastic decision.

Instead, we did the opposite. So instead of being together, we grew even further apart.

Now, living at the Burrow only makes things worse for us in this situation. We are remaining best friends for now, but it's awkward, and we hardly speak. I only hope one day we will be able to overcome this.


End file.
